What Is Voluntaryism?
Voluntaryism is used to describe the philosophy of Auberon Herbert, and later that of the authors and supporters of The Voluntaryist magazine, which supports a voluntary-funded state, meaning a lack of coercion and… Part of the Libertarian family.
Definition
Voluntaryism is used to describe the philosophy of Auberon Herbert, and later that of the authors and supporters of The Voluntaryist magazine, which supports a voluntary-funded state, meaning a lack of coercion and force in matters such as taxation.
Definition quoted from Wikipedia: Voluntaryism (text available under CC BY-SA 4.0; checked October 20, 2026).
Core ideas
- Consent as the basis of all association.
- Opposition to compulsory taxation.
- Peaceful, non-political means of change.
Origins
19th-century England and America.
Associated thinkers and leaders
Auberon Herbert
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Voluntaryism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 96 | strongly toward market | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 27 | toward progressive | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 12 | strongly toward libertarian | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 33 | toward cosmopolitan | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 4 | strongly toward non-intervention |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 99 | strongly toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 23 | toward civil liberty |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 33 | toward cosmopolitan |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 32 | toward progressive |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 1 | strongly toward democratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 56 | near the center |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 8 | strongly toward free market |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 4 | strongly toward non-intervention |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 16 | toward secular state |
These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the tradition’s core principles through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.
Estimated positions on key questions
| Statement | Position | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| People should be free to criticize the government without fear of legal punishment. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Opposition parties should be free to compete in elections. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Religious doctrine should take precedence over civil law when they conflict. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Preserving a historic national majority is a legitimate immigration objective. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Military power should be used proactively when serious external threats are emerging. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Same-sex couples should have the same right to marry as opposite-sex couples. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Society works best when established social hierarchies are respected. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Differences in social status help maintain an orderly society. | Disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Anarcho-Capitalism, Voluntaryism sits 2 points further toward cosmopolitan on the national identity dimension.
- Compared with Minarchism, Voluntaryism sits 7 points further toward cosmopolitan on the national identity dimension.
- Compared with Right-Libertarianism, Voluntaryism sits 9 points further toward non-intervention on the foreign policy dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Voluntaryism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Voluntaryism
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Anarchism
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Libertarianism
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.